Chapter 490: Coffin Nail

"Coffin nail..."

Mo Hua ran to the bronze coffin, recalling Zhang Quan's measurements, and indeed found a small depression along the edge of the lid.

The depression was sealed shut.

Only by inserting a bronze coffin nail could the bronze coffin be opened.

Inside the depression, a formation was carved, but because it was sealed, the formation was hidden, so Mo Hua had not noticed it at first.

How to open it?

Ordinary coffin nails are used to seal wooden coffins.

But this bronze coffin does the opposite—it uses coffin nails to open it.

This coffin nail is the key.

Lu Chengyun must have one in his possession.

And Zhang Quan seems to have one too.

Mo Hua frowned.

Lu Chengyun is suspicious; he would never leave two keys for something as important as the Corpse King's coffin.

So the key in Zhang Quan's possession must be one he secretly kept.

Mo Hua studied the bronze coffin again.

This bronze coffin had an ancient, crude design, its surface covered in greenish-blue patina, suggesting great age—it was likely used for refining ancient corpses, and if he wasn't mistaken, it had been passed down through Zhang Quan's ancestors.

Zhang Quan had lent this bronze coffin to Lu Chengyun, yet secretly kept one key—the bronze nail.

It seemed both men harbored ulterior motives and watched each other closely.

The coffin nail is the key to the bronze coffin...

The question now was: how could he obtain the coffin nail?

Mo Hua frowned, lost in thought.

He certainly couldn't get Lu Chengyun's key.

Zhang Quan's key offered some chance, but the risk was high...

Zhang Quan hated him with a deep, burning grudge; after what happened in the Walking Corpse Village—the stolen control bell and the stolen portrait of his Laozu—he would surely carry his important items with him at all times, to prevent Mo Hua from stealing them again.

Mo Hua sighed.

The drawback of concealment was this.

When others are unguarded, it works perfectly.

But once they're on guard, every move is restrained.

Mo Hua couldn't think of a good idea, so he could only return for now and ponder repeatedly.

But there truly was no solution.

Neither Lu Chengyun nor Zhang Quan gave him any opening.

With no progress, Mo Hua felt stuck, and finally considered returning first, then planning more carefully.

He thought it over, then went to find Lu Chengyun and said:

"Master Lu, I've completed the core of the Ten Thousand Corpses Array. I've stayed in this mine too long—it's stifling and boring. Could I be allowed to return for now?"

Lu Chengyun, as expected, refused, smiling gently:

"Young Mr., please be patient. Though the core of the Ten Thousand Corpses Array is built, the formation has not yet activated; we don't yet know if there are flaws. Please stay a little longer."

"But... I'm afraid my senior brother and senior sister will worry," Mo Hua hesitated.

Lu Chengyun smiled:

"Just another half-month. Once the formation activates, I'll send you back."

"Alright, Master, don't break your word..."

Mo Hua said reluctantly.

Lu Chengyun nodded. "I promise."

Mo Hua walked off, visibly gloomy.

Lu Chengyun watched Mo Hua's retreating figure and finally relaxed.

Truly just a child...

He had a child's nature—easily bored, impatient with solitude, a bit playful.

His joy and anger showed plainly on his face.

Whether he was happy or not, it was obvious.

"Too young, untested, lacking depth..."

"Hardly fit for great things..."

Lu Chengyun shook his head.

The cultivation world isn't one where talent alone ensures smooth sailing, nor where a bit of cleverness can always turn misfortune into fortune.

One must endure hardship to be tempered.

One must stumble a few times to grow.

But if this stumble happens under my care, he'll never get another chance to grow...

A cold smile curled on Lu Chengyun's lips.

After this, Lu Chengyun became even more lenient toward Mo Hua—almost indulgent.

No matter what Mo Hua did, he never grew angry.

He rarely used his spiritual sense to watch Mo Hua anymore.

A sense of unease stirred in Mo Hua's heart.

This permissiveness was like indulging the dead.

Like the last meal given to a condemned prisoner—always far more lavish than usual.

Lu Chengyun had decided to kill him; he saw himself as a dead man, so whatever he did no longer mattered.

Mo Hua shook his head, silently criticizing inside:

"This Lu Chengyun appears magnanimous, but his heart is so narrow."

"He can bring himself to kill a thirteen-year-old little cultivator, with such talent in arrays, so harmless…"

"Or is it because my talent is too great, and he's jealous?"

"Truly, those who escape envy are mediocrities…"

Mo Hua sighed, then thought with a touch of self-satisfaction.

Since Lu Chengyun wouldn't let him leave, Mo Hua decided he might as well stay for now and continue pursuing the bronze coffin.

"If you won't let me go, then I'll pry open your coffin!"

Mo Hua thought darkly to himself.

In the following days, Mo Hua would lurk at the Ten Thousand Corpses Altar every night, secretly watching Lu Chengyun and Zhang Quan.

The two men, as if prearranged, came one day each: Lu Chengyun one day, Zhang Quan the next.

Lu Chengyun opened the coffin and painted the Spirit Pivot Evil Array.

Zhang Quan opened the coffin, drank blood, and shook the bell to control the zombies.

Each used a different method, both aiming to control the Corpse King.

It made Mo Hua curious: when the Corpse King was completed, whose command would it obey?

Moreover, Mo Hua's main focus remained the bronze coffin nail.

He memorized its dimensions, length, material, and the array inscribed upon it.

Whenever Zhang Quan opened the coffin and the coffin lid revealed the internal array patterns, Mo Hua began his calculations: first, to deduce what array sealed the bronze coffin.

Second, to deduce what array was carved onto the coffin nail itself.

After spying for several days and secretly calculating for several more, Mo Hua finally understood—and was deeply disappointed.

He had assumed that since the bronze coffin was sealed so tightly, the array within must be some high-end array.

But it turned out to be merely two seven-line Bronze Lock Arrays—one upright, one inverted—both below first rank.

Only then did Mo Hua realize he had overlooked something.

This bronze coffin had been passed down by the Zhang family.

The Zhang family possessed a Corpse Dao heritage, but no foundation in Array Dao.

In other words, the entire family were "array-blind."

What high-end arrays could possibly be inside something left by their Laozu?

He had overestimated them…

Mo Hua shook his head, thoroughly disappointed in the Zhang family.

Now that he knew the coffin-sealing array and the disengagement structure of the coffin nail, things became much simpler.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, musing to himself:

"Since I can't steal the key, I'll forge my own."

After all, the core was the array; once you understood the array, everything would resolve itself naturally.

But he didn't know whether the coffin nail's material also mattered—whether it too needed to be cast in bronze…

If so, he currently had no suitable array medium.

Mo Hua decided to try with something else first.

Strictly speaking, the coffin nail was a type of evil artifact.

Mo Hua didn't understand artifact forging, let alone evil artifact forging—he couldn't possibly forge a coffin nail himself.

He could only "borrow" one.

In Shi Dian, there were so many coffins, so many coffin nails; he could pick any coffin and borrow one without issue.

But "borrowing" had its rules.

He couldn't borrow from an iron coffin.

Because iron coffins sealed iron zombies—rare creatures—and borrowing their coffin nails risked detection and could trigger a zombie transformation.

So he could only borrow from an ordinary wooden coffin first.

Among the countless coffins of the Ten Thousand Corpses Array, Mo Hua selected an ancient wooden coffin.

Seven coffin nails were driven into its lid.

Inside lay a walking corpse.

Mo Hua first used an array to drain its evil energy, dispersed its corpse qi, and painted a Wood Prison Array to temporarily seal its body, preventing uncontrolled transformation.

Then came the removal of the nails.

The nails on ordinary wooden coffins were iron nails, firmly driven into the lid.

Mo Hua picked one roughly the same size, tried to pull it out by hand—but couldn't budge it.

He then remembered: he was a spirit cultivator, not a body cultivator; his strength was weak.

Mo Hua helplessly called for the little zombie.

The little zombie pushed open the coffin lid, bounced over to Mo Hua, and, following his intent, effortlessly pulled out the iron nail.

Mo Hua nodded, dipped a fine brush in ink, and painted the disengagement Bronze Lock Array onto the coffin nail.

Then he inserted the nail into the hidden groove of the bronze coffin.

The coffin lid trembled slightly—but did not open.

Mo Hua observed carefully.

He found the iron nails were slightly off in size—not fully embedded, with a portion protruding—but they seemed usable; however, due to the mismatch, the copper lock array's patterns did not align, so the coffin could not be opened.

Mo Hua pulled out the coffin nails, wiped away the array patterns, made minor adjustments, and redrew them entirely.

This time, it worked.

The bronze coffin let out a faint "creeak," as if internal latches had disengaged and some mechanism had activated; at the same time, the array beneath the coffin lid also aligned and unlocked.

Mo Hua pushed against the coffin lid and found it still difficult to move; helplessly, he called for the little zombie to help.

The little zombie hopped over again and helped Mo Hua open the coffin lid.

Beneath the lid was a bronze outer coffin.

It was identical to the scene Mo Hua had glimpsed when he secretly watched Lu Chengyun draw the Ling Shu Evil Array.

What differed was the array inside—its blood hue was deeper, its patterns more pronounced.

Mo Hua carefully studied the bronze outer coffin.

He methodically calculated the array above, pondered it in detail, and combined it with his prior knowledge of corpse-refining techniques; he now had a general understanding.

The method of crafting a "Corpse King" was indeed unique.

The heart meridian and the corpse body were separated.

The heart inside the bronze coffin was that of the Lu family's ancestral patriarch.

The corpse covered by the yellow cloth on the altar was the Lu family's ancestral patriarch's body, its heart removed.

The two methods differed.

One was refining; the other was sacrificing.

Sacrificing required an altar.

Refining required a coffin, human blood, and an array.

Only after both "sacrificing" and "refining" were complete could the Corpse King be truly forged.

Lu Chengyun had drawn the Ling Shu Evil Array onto the zombie's heart meridian.

And he had deepened the array repeatedly.

He had seared the array deeply into the Lu family's ancestral patriarch's heart meridian.

So that the Lu family's ancestral patriarch was entirely under his control.

Mo Hua stroked his chin, lost in thought:

"Lu Chengyun can draw it—does that mean I can too?"

"But if I draw it, he'll surely notice…"

"What if I overlay the array?"

"Draw the same array patterns as Lu Chengyun, except he uses blood and dark power, while I use ink and spiritual power."

"Then overlay it, covering his patterns…"

But even so, though the patterns remain unchanged, the array's aura will shift.

From dark energy to spiritual energy—though subtle, Lu Chengyun, being cautious, would likely still notice…

Mo Hua frowned.

If Lu Chengyun discovered someone had tampered with the bronze coffin, it would be bad…

Suddenly, he was startled.

He was the one planning to tamper with the bronze coffin.

And Zhang Quan had already tampered with it.

Lu Chengyun knew nothing of Mo Hua's strong spiritual sense, his stealth, his mastery of the Ling Shu Array, his little zombie's ability to open doors, or his ability to sneak into the altar.

Even if Lu Chengyun suspected, he would suspect Zhang Quan.

After a moment's thought, Mo Hua devised a plan:

First, overlay the array once and observe Lu Chengyun's reaction.

If he suspected, Mo Hua would stop.

If he didn't suspect, Mo Hua would continue…

He would add his own control to the Corpse King!

Lu Chengyun's Ling Shu Evil Array, his own Ling Shu Supreme Array, and Zhang Quan's Ancient Corpse-Control Bell.

Three people controlling the corpse.

Even if ultimate control didn't rest with him, it wouldn't fall entirely into Lu Chengyun's hands.

As long as Lu Chengyun couldn't fully command the Corpse King or mobilize all the Iron Zombies, the entire corpse cultivator's strength would be greatly diminished.

Mo Hua's eyes glinted faintly; he began to draw, silently and unseen, overlaying Lu Chengyun's array patterns…

(End of Chapter)